Oil and Gas – Licences
The AER released a new edition of Directive 088: Licensee Life-Cycle Management (“Directive 088”) and Manual 023: Licensee Life-Cycle Management (“Manual 023”).
S 4.2 of Directive 088 now includes requirements for the closure nomination component of the AER’s Inventory Reduction Program. These new requirements support the Government of Alberta’s new Liability Management Framework, and the rule changes announced in Bulletin 2020-26.
More specifically, the update:
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introduces the closure nomination component of the Inventory Reduction Program, which provides an opportunity for eligible requesters (e.g., private landowners, First Nations, Métis settlements, municipalities, disposition holders, and ministers) to request the closure of a site; and
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describes the closure plan approaches available to licensees when a site is nominated.
Additionally, the licensee capability assessment (“LCA”) tool is subject to routine updates corresponding with the changes in Manual 023. The AER expects these changes to be released in early March 2023, and the LCA release notes in OneStop will be updated simultaneously.
Closure nomination will be implemented in spring 2023. Additional communications about how to make a closure request and find additional information on existing nominations will be made available at that time. Licensees with sites associated with the Government of Alberta’s site rehabilitation program will receive further direction on how to implement these new requirements in spring 2023.
